FukushimaThe Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster was a catastrophic failure at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on March 11, 2011. The nuclear power plant was located on a 3.5 square kilometer site in the Okuma and Futaba towns in the Futaba District of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. There were 10 nuclear reactors in total, of which 5 reactors used old designs and the rest used new designs. All of the Fukushima plants, including the newer ones, were all based on General Electric (GE) designs. Lucrative contracts had been made between General Electric and Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) for the maintenance of GE's nuclear plants in Japan. General Electric is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Schenectady, New York, which operates through four divisions: Energy, Technology Infrastructure, Capital Finance and Consumer and Industrial. The oldest nuclear reactor in Fukushima was built in the 1960s. Units 1-5 reactors were built with the older design, GE's (General Electric) Mark 1 design. To keep the reactors compact and economical, the Mark 1 design called for the reactor buildings to be small. Instead of placing generators inside reactor buildings, they are placed in nearby structures that house the turbines. Unfortunately, the turbine buildings were much less robust, especially their doors. On the other hand, the reactor buildings were built sturdy and stable, with thick concrete walls and double sets of sturdy doors. However, even though the reactor building itself had strong protection, backup power generators are critical safety equipment and should have been placed inside the reactor buildings. The cooling systems of nuclear power plants run on electricity drawn from the national electricity grid. For the situation where... middle of paper... O.4 reactor building. On the contrary, reactors no. 5 and 6 operated their cooling system safely. The Fukushima plants were all based on GE designs. Then, after the nuclear disaster, GE was asked why they were unaware of the design flaw in the old design. GE, responsible for maintenance of the Fukushima plants, said it was not their fault because Tepco was responsible for any changes to the design. They also said the location of emergency generators should be reviewed and decided by Tepco and regulators. After the accident, 300,000 people evacuated the area. Although the World Health Organization indicated that evacuees were exposed to little radiation, they are still likely to experience radiation-induced health impacts. Inconsistency in applying improved standards to nuclear facilities had caused the Fukushima nuclear disaster.